Welcome to the GWTW Forum.Guests (non-registered users) can view the forum but are unable to post. If you don't have anything to say then why would you bother to register?One of the most popular sections of the GWTW Forum has long been the Swap Meet. A great place to sell old, seldom flown kites or to get great deals on used (gently flown) kites. Only registered users can see the Swap Meet section, let alone wheel and deal. 1000's (literally) of kites have changed hands thanks to the Swap Meet.There are several more benefits to being a registered user, but you'll have to join our little community to find out all the "secrets".Questions or concerns? Contact Steve ... just drop an email to: forum.gwtwkites@gmail.com

After 6 months of tests, adjustments and flying we decided to make the Iridium Plans available.

Authors: Jonathan Filippi & Mario di Biase

This kite was entirely developed by computer aided sailing (CAS, PAV in italian) program, developed by Prof. Mario di Biase

Wingspan : 230 cm, height 91 cmType: Freestyle

Versions Tested: STD,UL and SUL (SUL-UL-STD in the photo)

Characteristics:

Iridium is a freestyle kite, his trick intuitivity (in particular for flat rotations such as taz machines) makes it appreciable both to beginners and to advanced pilots. The wing span isn't enormous, but the long spine allows good precision in corners and flying, for example for a ballet. It also has pretty good stability. The high discharge area allows easy stalling and performing tricks but the pull is still good over the wind window. The speed is moderate, allowing beginners to performs square cuts or other precision figures without very much effort.

The tail lenght and the balancing allows a stable but not excessive backflip. The spine is quite stiff and allows good 2pt landings.

Trick: Flat rotations are elegant, in particular slot taz e five-forties are easy and forgiving. Half axel and cascades require good slack management to be flat.Yoyo: Yoyo's are very fast in all variations and all versions, including the SUL version(but i had to load a bit the tail with 12g weight)Lewis: No problems.Backspin: Good in every version, forgiving timing errors. FlicFlac e Jackb's ladder: Good, but make sure that the nose isn't too much deep, or you have to perform a sweeping pull to recover it in fade again , otherwise it jams in pancake position..

Fade: Stable and nose-position-forgiving.Comete: elegant, stable and simple to perform.Rising fade: needs a sweeping pull or it will take off tailwise....FlapJack: needs a bit of back control to be clean (land on 2point).Rolling susan/rolling cascade/insane: Those tricks require a bit of wind and attention, they arent very easy but once learned they shouldn't give any problems.

Thanks, looks real nice and a great review of it's capabilities. We are getting flush with some great designs given away by the designers. Very generous of you all to go to the effort of sharing your work.

Logged

"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see" John W Lennon

"People do not quit playing because they grow old, they grow old because they quit playing" George Bernard Shaw

I too would love to thank all the people making plans public for our use. I'm getting quite the to-do list. This looks like a wonderful kite and I look forward to building it in the future (have a couple of kites in the works now).

One thing, I'm having trouble opening the .RAR file... it asks for a password to extract the files. If there is a password, I'd be happy to have it, or if someone can post the uncompressed files that would be great also. Thanks!

password works wonderfully! Thanks. Quick question about the plan. I see that there are multiple indications (circled crosses) at each connector on the sail plan. is the purpose of this for marking the sail on the inside of the leading and trailing edges? Thanks!

The circled crosses are for reference. The important ones are the yoyo stopper marker, and the standoff markings. Just make sure that you cut the dacron in a way to cover the apa and avoid line tangling.

Our forum is made possible by the good folks whose ads appear above and by the members of our community (PayPal donation button at top)In case you missed it each ad is linked to the sponsors web site. So please, take a moment and visit our sponsors sites as this forum wouldn't be possible with out them.Interested in running an ad for your business or kiting event? Contact Steve at advertise.gwtwkites@gmail.com for a quote.